28. Jul 2023

Pause / Godi: Celov_ka cesta 43

This morning Pastor Chris Scobie picked me up to take me to the Sunday morning church service in Ljubljana. He is playing the guitar in the videoclip and his wife is leading the worship from the keyboard. This was my first time to be in a time of worship with God's people since I left home three weeks ago. The melodies of the songs were familiar as was the spirit of worship, even though I did not always know the song text. I shared a few words about what I am doing and a few stories of God appointments along the way. Afterwards a man came up to me who also enjoys taking long hikes through his country of Slovenia. He said he was encouraged to be more aware of the leading of the Holy Spirit to speak with people he meets along the way. Pastor Chris and his congregation are endeavoring to build the first Penecostal Church building in Ljubljana, the capitol city of Slovenia. Pray for God's blessings on this project. Ljubljana is also a city with many students. There is definitely a need and opportunity for student ministry outreach here... but who will do it? Who will come?

Photo 2: When I got back to the hostel I looked in the community kitchen and saw Barry sitting there alone working on a language learning app. He is from China, is a professor of science and mathamatics, speaks very good English, and is wanting to learn German. We talked about God and the world, but mostly about God, his creation and how to live in realtionship to God. I prayed for Barry and his journey through life. Afterwards he took this picture and sent me a copy.

Photo 3: If God can take care of the birds, can he not take care of us? Lunchtime in Ljubljana...

Photos 1/4: The famous Dragon Bridge in Ljubljana

Photo 5: The main church in the center of the old town.

Sunday was my rest day. I stayed in a student dorm room for three people. When I got back to my room, Joe from England had just arrived. He is a young man in his early thirties who had some religious influence in his younger years, but now was quite distant from it. I told him that even though I am a pastor, I am not religious. He wanted me to explain that. I said that God is not looking for rituals, but relationship. I encouraged him to look beyond the smokescreen of religiosity and connect with God in a real relationship. We talked quite a bit until early evening. That is when I started working on my blog... almost to midnight. I never got to it during the week.